Determined to Fix You
by jewels1798
Summary: Life after defeating Killian is harder than Tony had thought. Extremis is taking over Pepper's body, and Tony is doing everything he can to fix her. Can he cure her? Will Tony lose the most important thing in his life? I DO NOT OWN IRON MAN. MARVEL DOES :'( POST IRON MAN 3! also some avengers cameos ;) REVIEW FOR MOREEEE
1. Chapter 1

**HEY EVERYBODY**

**don't fret, I'm still continuing with "My two peas in a pod" (HEHEHEHEHE i left it at a pretty big cliffhanger)**

**I just had a new idea, it has nothing to do with my other story, it's just post iron man 3**

**Anyway, enjoy, AND LEAVE ME REVIEWS, I'll continue if people like the story!**

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**PEPPER'S POV**

"Tony, I'm…"

"What?" He's too busy filling the syringe and making sure there's the correct amount of black liquid in it to notice me.

"I'm Afraid." I sigh. I hate admitting weakness to him.

Hearing those words, he carefully puts the syringe down and holds me.

He hugs me tight and I instantly feel calm in his grasp. His messy hair brushes the side of my face and I relax into it. It's like a coping mechanism, whenever I'm scared; I just need to be in Tony's arms.

His reassuring voice whispers into my ear, "It's going to be okay Pep, you trust me don't you?" I exchange a whisper, "Of course."

_I don't mean it. I'm nervous as hell._

After only seconds of harmony, Tony pulls away and his chocolate brown eyes stare into mine. "You ready?"

I nod hesitantly and sit down on the silver bench. His workspace now is a little smaller, cozier. The Avengers now inhabit Stark Tower, so there's limited room for Tony and his tinkering. But I don't mind. It's nice having the guys around. But I do think Tony misses his old workshop, and everything in the Malibu house. He denies it, saying, "Who needs all of that stuff anyway? I have you, and that's all that matters." But I can see the pain in his eyes as he repeats that phrase over and over, it's like he's trained himself to say that.

"So, this is a serum I've developed that will hopefully," He bites his lip, "Stop you burning up so often."

It's been 4 weeks since I was injected with Extremis. Tony's been frantically trying to develop a cure for the fiery virus running through my veins. It's become so bad that I wake up in the middle of the night, sweating and finding my skin red-hot. My skin actually glows red. I've even burnt through the sheets. Not only is this excruciatingly painful, but it terrifies Tony. I don't want to wake him up at night and make him worry; he just had a heart operation and still has stitches, he should be recovering. But, because he's Tony Stark, the stubborn genius, my concerns are dismissed and his primary focus is curing me.

I gasp as I feel a pinch as the large needle is inserted into my right upper arm.

"Sorry."

He quickly extracts the needle and wipes down the injection site with a cloth. He then kisses my arm. "Better?" Tony cheekily smiles.

I frown but I can't hide my smile. "We'll see."

"You should start to feel the effects of the serum in either a couple of minutes, or even a couple of hours."

Tony offers his hand to help me down from the metal bench.

"I'm not going to pass out Tony."

"I don't want to take any risks."

I sigh and push his hand away, "Relax!" He looks hurt but I lean over and give him a peck on the cheek. "Thank you."

As I hop down from the bench I feel a little woozy and my head starts to spin.

"Whoa…" I grab onto the bench for support and feel Tony's hands wrap around my waist.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm, just-"

My right side of my body feels heavy, and I feel myself swaying wildly. I topple sideways and Tony catches me.

"Okay let's sit down!" He scoops up my legs and carries me to a nearby couch. Immediately, Tony takes out a notepad and starts taking notes.

"Do you feel dizzy?"

He starts to look blurred and I nod.

"Nauseous?"

I gulp, "Tony. I think I'm going to puke,"

"Big tick for that one."

I feel myself sweating and I start to breathe heavily.

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**TONY'S POV**

"Uh-oh. Um, Jarvis, turn up the air-con."

"I can't sir, Mr. Banner has given me specific orders to keep the temperature at 25 degrees Celsius."

"Pepper's burning up Jarvis, I need to cool her down."

"May I suggest a shower sir?"

I stare down at Pepper, her skin is glowing, and she has an orange undertone. _Great._ I quickly lift her up and her scorching body is radiating against me. I'm pretty sure I'm getting 2nd degree burns, so I'm now running to the shower.

"Jarvis, water on!"

A strong stream of cool water comes out of the faucet and I lay Pepper down on the shower floor. As soon as the water hits her, steam fills the air. I hop into the shower and not minding about my clothes becoming wet, I sit beside her.

She's gasping for air and I rub my hand along her back when she's not too hot to touch.

"Tony," She mutters, "My clothes."

"Honestly Pep, I'd be more worried about your hair getting singed."

She glares at me but turns her gaze to shower floor, "Do you think this is going to work?"

I brush her wet hair away from her face, "Pep, you're in a relationship with me, of course it's going to be difficult…"

"No Tony, I mean the serum."

_Oh._

She smiles and sits herself up, "I think I've-um-cooled down, can we leave the shower now?"

I chuckle and scoop her up, this time I'm not burned by the touch of her skin.

"Can I have a towel?" Pepper grins as I notice the puddle of water below us.

"Yeah that may be a good idea…" I grab a white fluffy towel hanging in the bathroom and wrap Pepper in it. "You look cute all wrapped up like a baby Pep."

"Shut up." She wriggles out of my grasp and lands on the bathroom tiles.

"Ouch! That must of hurt."

"Well I'm fine." She picks herself up and leaves the bathroom. Pepper heads to the walk in wardrobe and picks out a new business suit and skirt.

"You're not going to work after that are you?" I reach for her shoulder and pull her to face me.

"I've got to get SOMETHING done today."

"Well, you can watch a movie, or read a book, or hell, I don't know, knit something!"

"I'm not 60 Tony."

"Well, I advise you to bed rest for the remainder of the day."

Pepper protests, but I once again lift her up and take her to the king sized bed. "Just rest okay? We'll see tonight if the serum had any effect on you." I reach over and kiss her. "I love you."

She sighs but smiles, "Can I at least have my PDA?"

"No! Now R-E-L-A-X!" I leave the room but Pepper stops me.

"Tony! One more thing!"

"What?" I turn back and find Pepper sitting up, staring at me with those beautiful blue eyes.

"I love you too."

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**SOOOOO**

**thoughts? I appreciate ALL feedback, and well, reviews keep me writing :)**

**ALSO, do you guys like the whole "TONY'S POV" or "PEPPER'S POV" thing?**

**REVIEW**


	2. Chapter 2

**hey everyone! WOW long time no see (sorry about that)**

**anyway, here's the next chapter, oh and reviews are appreciated!**

**love you all xx**

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**PEPPER'S POV**

"Judging by last night's… events. The serum didn't work."

I stare down at the singed sheets and look back up to see the fire department leaving the charred bedroom. _Oops_ was all I could muster.

I set fire to the bedroom. Well if you want to be precise, I set fire to the sheets, then in a domino like fashion, the bed, the carpet, and thus the bedroom. Thank god Jarvis had an in-built function that automatically called any department that was required if there so happened to be an emergency. Luckily no one was hurt. Well except for a bit of Tony's goatee. "Sorry about that." I mumble as Tony frantically tries to comb his once trademark feature. He places the comb down and turns to grin at me. "I can fix it, don't worry. I just need to fix…. you."

I smirk and stare at all the damage. The closet wasn't touched, thank god. I can't even think to imagine my Prada pumps disintegrated. Everything is easily fixable, the bed frame is fine and the walls are only partly burned. But last night was definitely the worst 'outburst' I've had.

I suddenly feel the familiar arms wrap around my waist and I flinch. Tony nestles his face in my hair at whispers into my ear, "You're not hot anymore Potts, relax." I turn to face him while still maintaining his grasp around me. "I'm not pretty?" I fake a pout.

"No."

"What?" I obviously came off as a little pissed off as he chuckles.

"You're beautiful."

I feel myself blushing and I lower my face.

"Oh crap, Pep, don't do that."

"What?"

I look up and see Tony's stunned expression and I instantly run to the mirror in the bathroom. My face is red. Not blushing red, fiery hot, glowing red. I quickly run the faucet and splash water on my face.

Big mistake.

The bathroom is now a sauna and steam fills the room. Tony's hand clenches my shoulder. I wipe away the condensation on the mirror and thankfully the colour of face has dulled to a pink. I scowl at Tony, "Never give me a compliment again."

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**TONY'S POV **

"Well since the previous serum didn't work, we'll have to start from scratch as we were obviously heading in the wrong direction." Bruce quickly jotted down notes while inspecting Pepper on the silver bench again. I didn't really want Banner fully invested in this project but I had no choice. I'm getting desperate.

He lifted her thin arm and once again took notes.

"What's the purpose of doing that?" I question with a hint of annoyance. He doesn't need to fondle her to make a freaking serum.

"Tony calm down." Pepper glared in my direction as he out-stretched her leg. A smirk came across her face and she slowly said, "You're not jealous are you?"

"No-It's just-No-uh" I sputter and both Bruce and Pepper laugh. "Yeah well I don't see why it's necessary to take measurements and feel her up Banner." I interject.

Bruce clears his throat, "I need to see what proper medical condition Pepper is and see if any physicals signs can lead to a cure. For example, any deformities or discolorations…."

"I'm fine on the outside Bruce, it's just the inside." Pepper interrupts.

"Yeah!" I add, but am obviously not taken seriously as I sound like 5 year old trying to prove that candy is good for you.

Bruce finally stops 'measuring' Pepper and turns his wheelie chair to me, "Well, I guess that means we'll have to do tests, on the inside."

Pepper gulps.

"No No Pepper, just x-rays and scans, and a couple of blood tests. Nothing drastic." He smiles reassuringly.

"O-Okay. Just do whatever it takes." She sighs.

"You can hop down now if you want."

Pepper lowers herself off the bench and heads towards me. "We'll be right back." I nod to Bruce and he lowers his head to re-read his notes for the thousandth time. Pepper's hand intertwines with mine and we walk to the newly refurbished bedroom. It only took 2 days with the help of the best (and most expensive) interior decorators in New York. She slumps onto the bed and pats the spot beside her. I meekly accept her offer and sit beside her, wrapping my arm around her shoulders.

"Is it going to hurt?" She whispers.

I've never seen her like this. She's always been the strong willed, feisty type, and seeing her fear scares me.

"It may." I admit.

"It has to work. I don't want to be like this anymore." She says solemnly. Her head rests on my shoulder.

"We won't stop until it works Pep."

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**I'll hopefully update the story more frequently as my current/main story now is ending (My Two Peas in a Pod)**

**But I'll also be working on my other new story the Stark Children as well so check that out too!**

**Please Review and I'll see you all soon!**


	3. Chapter 3

**hey! I'm so sorry for not updating for ages :( I'm really busy at the moment and I feel bad because I've kind of neglected this story!**

**Anyway, I'm not really happy with this chapter, so if you have any advice it would be appreciated!**

**REVIEW!**

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**PEPPER'S POV**

Hands wrap around my shoulders and shake my frame. "Pep! Wake up!" The sound of his voice fills my head and I open my eyes, startled at the sudden intrusion of my sleep.

"Huh?" I mutter as my vision adjusts to the harsh light seeping through the windows.

Tony's face is the first thing I see, and the look of urgency wiped across his face immediately wakes me up. "What-What's happening?" I sit up and see Tony's already dressed, his goatee cleanly shaven and smelling of cologne.

"You slept in. A lot."

I stare at the alarm clock that's flashing 8:45am.

"Crap!" I yell as my eyes snap open and I jump out of bed. While running to the closet, I try and bend down and pull my socks off and nearly trip over.

"Why didn't you wake me Tony?!" I hiss as I pull a cream jacket with a matching skirt off the hanger and quickly scoot myself in it.

"You looked peaceful, and you seem tired."

That was true. I've been so tired lately. It's just like all of the energy has been drained out of me.

I hear his voice in my ear and I quickly turn to see him grinning as he picks a piece of lint off my shoulder. "There. You're perfect." He hums.

"Move Tony!" I exasperate as I push past him to get to the bathroom. I quickly pull my hair into a neat bun and apply a thin layer of makeup.

"Calm down, there's no need to rush." I see his reflection in the mirror as I'm trying to find my ruby red lipstick. "There's a board meeting in 15 minutes, I need to rush!"

"Here!" He offers the stick to me and I snatch it out of his hands.

"What was that for?"

"Not in the mood."

After finishing the final touches, I rush downstairs, Tony hot my heels.

"What…."

"I'm coming today."

"Ugh, fine-." A sudden wave of heat flushes to my head and I start to feel faint.

"Pep?" His voice echoes in my head.

I moan as I place my hand against my forehead, and quickly pull it away at the searing heat.

"Tony. I'm heating up." I gasp. But this time it was different.

The fire is pulsing through my temple and it's becoming unbearable.

"Tony!" I yell as pain fills every part of my body.

I feel my body collapse into Tony's arms and the last thing I see is his contorted face, shouting at me to stay awake.

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"Her vitals are responding…. No it's a reaction…I haven't seen something like this before…it was triggered by… No… It's not getting any better."

My eyes flicker open to see Bruce and Tony studying a monitor. They quickly turn their attention to me, as my return to consciousness is apparently a big deal.

"Pepper!" Tony gasps as he rushes to my side.

"Where am I?" I groggily mutter as I notice the surroundings to be completely foreign.

"We're on Bruce's level."

I nod as I notice Bruce's laboratory. It's not too different to Tony's; it's just more 'sciencey'. There's no cars or distractions in here.

"What happened?" I blink as I try to hoist myself up into a sitting position, but am swiftly overcome with the heaviness of my head and fall straight back to the padded bench.

"Your immune system almost collapsed." Bruce interrupts as Tony freaks out over my minor fall, "Also, blood flow has decreased, explaining the nasty headache you still have."

"Why?" I try to sit up this time, ignoring Tony's aiding arms wrapping around me.

"Extremis seems to be weakening you." Bruce solemnly admits.

I breathe in suddenly. "What?!" I shake my head in disbelief and stare at Tony for confirmation.

He bites his lip and nods tentatively.

"No. That can't happen. That's impossible."

"It's not." Bruce sighs.

"That didn't happen before, or to Killian! Or to anyone else who was exposed to Extremis!" I interject.

"No Pepper, it's due to the combination of…" He trails off and looks to Tony, who is looking down appearing guilty.

"What?" I place my hand on Tony's face as he leans closer to me.

He bites his lip once again; he does that whenever he's nervous.

"It's my fault you're getting sick." He breathes out.

"No, Tony…it's…"

"The previous serum mutated Extremis into a more hazardous virus. It's attacking you from the inside." He muttered while shaking his head.

It all makes sense now.

I look down at my hands and start to fiddle with my nails. Without looking up, I mutter, "So it's slowly killing me?"

I look up to see Bruce has wandered over to Tony. They both stand before me and Bruce places his hand on my shoulder.

"Technically, yes. But we have time."

"How much?"

"A couple of weeks." Tony offers his arms to me and I immediately bury my face in his chest. I don't want them to see me cry.

Not knowing what to say I mumble, "Okay."

I can't hold back the tears when I realize that the once non-hazardous virus that Tony promised to exterminate is going to be the reason for my death.

Extremis is killing me.

"I'm so sorry Pep." Tony whispers into my ear, "I will do whatever it takes to cure you." He almost chokes on those words and my heart breaks.

"I'm not going to lose you."

Thank you." I whisper in return.

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